# Group Health Insurance: How Corporate Cover Works > Group or corporate health insurance in India: what employer cover includes, where it falls short, GST and tax rules, and what to do when you leave. - **Published**: 2026-10-31 - **Modified**: 2026-10-31 - **Category**: health-insurance - **URL**: https://www.tldr.money/articles/health-insurance/group-health-insurance --- This guide is part of our [health insurance in India](/health-insurance) hub. **Group health insurance**, also called corporate or employer health insurance, is the cover most salaried Indians get first. Here is how it works, what it usually covers, and where it leaves gaps. ## What group health insurance is A group health policy is one master contract between an insurer and an organisation. The organisation, usually an employer, is the policyholder. Employees and their listed family members are the insured members, and each gets a health card for cashless claims. Because the insurer prices the whole group together, individual members are typically not medically examined. The employer negotiates the terms once for everyone: sum insured, family definition, room rent limits, co-pays and which waiting periods are waived. Groups other than employers can buy these policies too, such as professional associations or housing societies, but employer cover is by far the most common. ## What it usually includes Terms vary by employer, but a typical corporate policy offers: - **A fixed sum insured per family**, often Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, sometimes graded by seniority. - **Family cover** for spouse and children, with parents or parents-in-law as an optional add-on, often with a co-pay. - **Day-one cover** for pre-existing diseases, with the 30-day initial wait and specific-illness waits waived. - **Maternity cover**, often with the usual nine-month or longer wait waived and a fixed limit for normal and caesarean delivery. - **A corporate buffer**, a shared pool the employer can release when a member exhausts their own sum insured on a serious claim. - **No medical tests** and no individual underwriting when you join. ## Where corporate cover falls short - **It is tied to your job.** Resign, get laid off or retire, and it stops. That often happens at the age when buying fresh cover is hardest. - **The sum insured is often low.** A few lakh may not cover one major hospitalisation in a metro city. - **The employer controls the terms.** Room rent caps, parental co-pays and limits can tighten at renewal. A room rent cap can cut the whole bill, not just the room charge; see [room rent and proportionate deduction](/articles/health-insurance/room-rent-capping-proportionate-deduction). - **No credit builds in your name** the way it does on a personal policy you hold for years. Our guide on [whether you need personal cover alongside corporate insurance](/articles/health-insurance/personal-vs-corporate-health-cover) goes deeper on this. ## GST and tax - **GST:** group and employer health premiums still carry **18% GST**, while individual and family floater policies have been nil-rated since 22 September 2025. On 8 October 2026 the GST Council recommended letting employers claim input tax credit on group health cover. Details in [GST on health insurance](/articles/health-insurance/gst-on-health-insurance). - **Income tax for the employee:** premium your employer pays under an IRDAI-approved policy is not treated as a taxable perquisite, so it does not add to your taxable salary. - **Section 80D:** you cannot claim a deduction for premium your employer paid. Premium you pay yourself on a personal policy, under the old tax regime, does qualify. See our [Section 80D guide](/articles/health-insurance/section-80d-tax-benefit). ## When you leave your job IRDAI's health master circular and its 2024 product regulations allow **migration** (to another product with the same insurer) and **portability** (to a different insurer) for group policy members, with credit for the time you were covered. In practice: 1. **Ask HR or the insurer's group desk** about migrating to an individual policy before your last working day. 2. **Request your coverage history**: the date you joined the group policy, family members covered and any claims. 3. **Apply early.** The new policy is subject to the insurer's underwriting, so it may ask for medical tests or load the premium. 4. **Do not leave a gap.** Credits apply only if cover is continuous. Our [health insurance portability guide](/articles/health-insurance/health-insurance-portability) covers the timelines and what carries over. ## How to use group cover well 1. **Keep it as your first layer.** It is valuable, especially for pre-existing conditions. 2. **Buy a personal base policy** sized for one major hospitalisation in your city, ideally while you are young and healthy. 3. **Raise total cover cheaply** with a super top-up whose deductible matches your group sum insured. See [top-up vs super top-up](/articles/health-insurance/super-top-up-vs-top-up). 4. **Check the policy schedule each year** for changes to room rent, co-pay and parental cover. Compare insurers for your personal policy on the [all health insurance companies](/health-insurance/insurers) page. ## Sources - IRDAI, Master Circular on Health Insurance Business (IRDAI/HLT/CIR/PRO/84/5/2024), 29 May 2024, Chapter I paras 11 and 12 (migration and portability): https://irdai.gov.in/en/document-detail?documentId=4942918 - IRDAI (Insurance Products) Regulations, 2024, Schedule III, para 10 (migration and portability): https://irdai.gov.in/consolidated-gazette-notified-regulations - [Department of Financial Services: Exemption of GST on individual life and health insurance (FAQ)](https://financialservices.gov.in/exemption-gst-all-individual-life-insurance-and-health-insurance-policies) - Income Tax Department, perquisites and Section 80D: https://incometaxindia.gov.in --- - [More health-insurance articles](https://www.tldr.money/articles/category/health-insurance) - [All articles](https://www.tldr.money/articles)